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Graphic designer/illustrator resume examples from 2025

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Land interviews using Zippia's AI-powered resume builder.

Updated March 26, 2025
6 min read
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How to write a graphic designer/illustrator resume

Craft a resume summary statement

Put a resume summary on the top of your resume to highlight your accomplishments. A resume summary sums up your experience and skills, making it easy for hiring managers to understand your qualifications at a glance. Here are some tips to write a strong, impressive resume summary:

Step 1: Mention your current job title or the role you're pursuing.

Step 2: Include your years of experience in graphic designer/illustrator-related roles. Consider adding relevant company and industry experience as relevant to the job listing.

Step 3: Highlight your greatest accomplishments. Here is your chance to make sure your biggest wins aren't buried in your resume.

Step 4: Again, keep it short. Your goal is to summarize your experience and highlight your accomplishments, not write a paragraph.

These tips will help you demonstrate why you are the perfect fit for the graphic designer/illustrator position.

Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.

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List the right project manager skills

Use your Skills section to show you have the knowledge and technical ability to do the job. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:

  1. You often need to include the exact keywords from the job description in your resume. Look at the job listing and consider which of the listed skills you have experience with, along with related skills.
  2. Include as many relevant hard skills and soft skills as possible from the listing.
  3. Use the most up to date and accurate terms. Don't forget to be specific.
These five steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some graphic designer/illustrator interviews.

Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a graphic designer/illustrator resume:

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Logo Design
  • Adobe Indesign
  • Layout Design
  • Photography
  • Posters
  • Brochures
  • Concept Art
  • Website Design
  • Web Banners
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Apparel
  • Business Cards
  • Promotional Materials
  • Corporate Identity
  • Mac
  • PowerPoint
  • T-Shirt Designs
  • Print Collateral
  • Sketch
  • Package Design
  • HTML
  • Digital Illustration
  • Dreamweaver
  • Art Direction
  • Graphic Design
  • CSS
  • Print Design
  • Embroidery

Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.

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How to structure your work experience

Your work experience should be structured:

  1. With your most recent roles first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order.
  2. Job title, along with company name and location on the left.
  3. Put the corresponding dates of employment on the left side.
  4. Keep only relevant jobs on your work experience.

How to write graphic designer/illustrator experience bullet points

Effective job bullet points do more than just describe your job duties. Instead, they should be specific and measurable accomplishments. Here are some strategies to mastering job bullet points:

  • Use strong action verbs like Led, Built, or Optimized.
  • Follow up with numbers when possible to support your results. How much did performance improve? How much revenue did you drive?
  • Wrap it up by explaining the actions you took to achieve the result and how you made an impact.

Here are great bullet points from graphic designer/illustrator resumes:

Work history example #1

Animator

Digital Domain

  • Helped team create nodes for nuke.
  • Helped to reconstruct shots for the VFX paint Department using frame by frame paint.
  • Animated 3D scenes for Discovery Channel's - "Battleground: The Art Of War - Waterloo" using Maya.
  • Created vehicle models, environment models, and textures utilizing Maya.
  • Edited mocap and created key frame animation for bipedal creatures and created key frame for all other creature types.

Work history example #2

Design And Production Assistant

Wisenbaker Builder Services

  • Led a team of five direct reports of Drafters and Engineers to support pharmaceutical facility drawing requirements.
  • Assisted Studio Manager in instituting re-pricing initiative with all flooring vendors for cost competitiveness.
  • Managed and arranged AutoCAD drawings to reflect specifications on community specific models.
  • Compiled competitive market analysis to create PowerPoint presentations to assist in land acquisition and pricing decisions in each market.
  • Produced hand drawn & CAD design of all architectural & design layout aspects of Texas market for KB Home.

Work history example #3

Design/Animation Instructor (Part-Time)

National Oilwell Varco

  • Developed the website using HTML and CSS.
  • Produced various content with Maya, After Effects, and Photoshop for live audio-reactive performance.
  • Programmed interactive web pages, including HTML5 video.
  • Used Adobe Creative Cloud applications for post-production, including Premiere Pro, Audition, Photoshop, SpeedGrade, and AfterEffects.
  • Created and distributed motion and print advertisements using Premiere, Final Cut, After Effects, and Photoshop.

Work history example #4

Web Graphic Designer

Minuteman Press

  • Evolved to shooting on Full DSLR's and utilizing Photoshop in a production setting.
  • Designed printed materials for various pharmaceutical companies as well as local businesses.
  • Operated a printer and cutting machine to make cards, booklets, and programs.
  • Determined development requirements and Information Architecture based on business needs for each unique application.
  • Created color and gray scale advertisements using InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat.

Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.

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Add an education section to your resume

Here is the best way to format your education section:

  • Display your highest degree first.
  • If you graduated over 5 years ago, put this section at the bottom of your resume. If you lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.
  • If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education.
  • If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.

Here are some examples of good education entries for resumes:

Master's Degree in graphic design

Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH

2011 - 2012

Bachelor's Degree in graphic design

Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA

2007 - 2010

Highlight your graphic designer/illustrator certifications on your resume

Certifications can be a crucial part of your resume. Many jobs have required certifications.

Include the full name of the certification, along with the name of the issuing organization and date of obtainment.

If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your graphic designer/illustrator resume:

  1. Certified of Medical Illustrator (CMI)
  2. Certified Graphics Communications Manager (CGCM)
  3. Adobe Certified Associate (ACA)
  4. Adobe Illustrator CC 2015

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